Hey Huck, here's something to think about.
My off road Hatch is rear wheel drive because of the divorced t-case, right?
Remember last year when the front diff went bye-bye?
The front diff isnt designed to run in rwd, the torque applied to the gears is unequal. It may not be a problem now, but it wont run forever like that.
I'm sure it helps to have a newer type tranny, but the engineering is still the same as the old on the front diff.
Just my .02